Sunny wrote:
Hehe, the poll is gonna be like 2423423948 to 4.
-Sunny
-Sunny
well I'm hoping we'll get some comments too.
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| New Feature: The Best....Existenstial Album Closer http://archive.theskyiscrape.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=51185 |
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| Author: | stip [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | New Feature: The Best....Existenstial Album Closer |
I’ve been mulling over this idea for a while, since whenever we had that black vs. come back thread. I thought it might be fun to have a recurring feature where we compare two similar songs (musically, thematically, historically, whatever) and talk about which one we prefer. I’m going to start this first one off but I would prefer that I not be the one monopolizing this thread’s direction. If people are into this, and we keep this going, please PM me any ideas you have for which songs to compare and why. Ideally you’ll also write the first post for that thread, but you don’t’ have to. There is also no reason it has to be just two songs, but smaller is probalby better. Also, if you have a better name for this thread let me know. I’m not too crazy with what I came up with. Anyway, for our inagural thread, I decided to go with Existenstial Album closers and chose Indifference and All or None. Indifference I will light the match this morning, so I won't be alone Watch as she lies silent, for soon light will be gone Oh I will stand arms outstretched, pretend I'm free to roam Oh I will make my way, through, one more day in...hell How much difference does it make How much difference does it make... I will hold the candle, till it burns up my arm I'll keep takin' punches, until their will grows tired Oh I will stare the sun down, until my eyes go blind Hey I won't change direction, and I won't change my mind how much difference does it make how much difference does it make.. how much difference... I'll swallow poison, until I grow immune I will scream my lungs out till it fills this room How much difference How much difference How much difference does it make How much difference does it make... All or None It's a hopeless... situation And I'm starting to believe That this hopeless... situation Is what I'm trying to achieve But I try To run on Towards All or none,... all or none Here's the selfless confession Leading me back to war Can we help that,.. our destinations Are the ones we've been before I still try To run on Towards all Or none,... all or none To myself I... surrender To the one I'll never please But I still try,.. to run on I still try,.. to run on But it's All or none,... all or none. |
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| Author: | stip [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Both of these songs close out records, which means they are the last thing the listener will take away from the album, and they both deal with an existential crisis of meaning and insignificance. It’s a great big world and we are very small. There is so much that happens to us that is beyond our control. There is so much that needs to be done and we have so little power to do it, so why bother at all? Both songs are grappling with those questions, but they aren’t, strictly speaking, political songs. They aren’t concerned with institutions or power. They are about wrestling with our own sense of inadequacy. Lyrically Indifference takes this one in a walk. It is maybe eddie’s finest hour. All or none has some decent lines but none that come close to matching Indifferences most evocative moments. In terms of the message I find Indifference to be a more hopeful song. Eddie never answers the question he keeps posing throughout the song, but given the normally optimistic and hopefully feel to their music, I think the answer has to be that it does, even if the only affect our actions have are the meaning we give them ourselves. But the experience of the song answers the question as well. When you sing “I will scream my lungs out until it fills this room†in a room with 15,000 other people you KNOW that, at least sometimes, we can make a difference. All or None never has that moment. He says that he will keep trying to run on, but the vocals are so tired and so weary that you just don’t walk away thinking he is going to try all that hard. Indifference is full of actions the singer takes in the face of his own significance. He is defient. During All or None the singer just surrenders to himself and to his hopeless situation. It's the same problem effecting so much of Riot Act. There are moments of light (I Am Mine) but it feels like a defeated record despite its aggressive title, and All or None sends us home on a down note. Musically Indifference wins out too. The song is stark, but never empty. There is a warm, full feeling to indifference while all or none is cold and thin. The outro guitar solo is nice but it feels out of place in such a contemplative song, and it feels more like a defeated person’s wail than anything that is supposed to fill us with hope or optimism. So in the end Indifference is the superior song for me. It is not even close. |
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| Author: | Bammer [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:26 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I just voted for Indifference. |
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| Author: | Sunny [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Hehe, the poll is gonna be like 2423423948 to 4. -Sunny |
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| Author: | stip [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:30 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Sunny wrote: Hehe, the poll is gonna be like 2423423948 to 4.
-Sunny
well I'm hoping we'll get some comments too. |
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| Author: | tryinmorning [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Indifference, no contest in my mind. |
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| Author: | LostDog1079 [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I voted "All or None". I just like the mood in the music that the song gives out. Had the song gone on for another 3 minutes with jamming at the end, it could've been an epic. But I do agree that Ed's vocals could be WAY better. |
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| Author: | porchball [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Indifference for me. It takes me back to my first show in 95' when they use to close with it. They turned the lights down and had the stage lit with candles...It set the perfect mood for closing the show...similar to how it's so perfect for closing VS. It's the perfect song to contrast the punch you in the gut opening of Go and Animal...kinda lets you down easy after being worn out. |
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| Author: | McParadigm [ Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I voted Indifference, although in All or None's defense I will say that that song seems to express the frustration without sounding self-centered, self-important, or melodramatic. It's just that organ in Indifference, and the fucking mood, that makes the rest of that stuff ok. |
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| Author: | EllisEamos [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:00 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
i voted indifference, but that's not to say i don't take a lot from all or none. i think all or none is a very clear message. its either you give it your all, or don't do it. its a let down song on the surface, but its inspirational in the sense that despite the fact that this character has failed, you can "run on/move on" with blinders on, towards your goal, towards happiness? or towards peaceful times? or to a better life for yourself and your children? (or all 3).... the song is about not giving up, its looking at a failure and saying that this isn't going to stop me from pursuing what is rightfully mine. Yes he say's he'll surrender, but its to himself, the one he'll never please, the one who's going to "run on".... its contradicting, but thats what makes indifference so amazing.... doing something, eventhough you know it might not make a difference. To me indifference is the first chapter of this notion. Present Tense carries it, as it spells it out for the listener to get something "outta this all encompassing trip," eventhough you might have thought you had to forgive yourself for something before you could move past it. All or None refreshes it with its own conflicting thoughts. love the new topic/thread/chain idea stip... "that's why they call him the godfather." |
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| Author: | I Got Memories [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:13 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
nice post stip. I agree, I voted for Indifference. |
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| Author: | conoalias [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:17 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Parting Ways |
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| Author: | corduroy_blazer [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:26 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
all or none. one of pearl jam's finest songs. |
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| Author: | dogbelly [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:27 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Indifference for me, it's really no contest, but I do like All or None. |
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| Author: | Scrub12 [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:54 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
I'm going to say Indifference, even though I think All or None is the best song off Riot Act. |
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| Author: | pearljamfan80 [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:56 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
I'm going with All or None cause it has a solo. |
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| Author: | Angus [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:11 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
corduroy_blazer wrote: all or none. one of pearl jam's finest songs.
+ I'm not such a big fan of Indifference. + Parting Ways is their best closer. 
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| Author: | conoalias [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:15 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
Angus wrote: corduroy_blazer wrote: all or none. one of pearl jam's finest songs. + I'm not such a big fan of Indifference. + Parting Ways is their best closer.  did i log in with your username? thats exactly how i feel. except i do like indifference quite a lot too, though since there is no Parting Ways i'm going with All Or None.
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| Author: | Angus [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:23 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
conoalias wrote: Angus wrote: corduroy_blazer wrote: all or none. one of pearl jam's finest songs. + I'm not such a big fan of Indifference. + Parting Ways is their best closer. did i log in with your username? thats exactly how i feel. except i do like indifference quite a lot too, though since there is no Parting Ways i'm going with All Or None.I like Indifference quite a lot as well. But not enough to make it top-20 for me. Whereas Parting Ways & All or None easily are. |
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| Author: | dirtyfrank0705 [ Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:34 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
I voted Indifference, but love both equally; I only voted for Indifference because I have more of a history with it than I do All or None. I first heard Indifference as a teenager, so the question "How much difference does it make?" was pretty relevant to me back then. There was so much you don't understand when growing up, and that line encapsulated that for me. That being said, the song still makes sense to me today. As a grown man, I still can't figure out a lot of things about life. This is the curse of being human: we can never truly understand our purpose. All or None is a song that makes me feel guilty after I listen to it. It reminds me of how fucked up I am, and therefore doesn't offer the same feeling of hope that Indifference does. Though I wouldn't call either song "inspiring," I will say that All or None can really pull me down a lot more than Indifference. But that doesn't make it a bad song. |
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